Harvest Monday - October 3rd

I planted this bare root peach tree last year in the spring.  It took forever for it to sprout a single leaf but it finally did.  This year it had gorgeous blooms all over it but I honestly wasn't expecting anything else to happen. Maybe you remember this photo? Or this photo? They were about the size of golf balls and I had no idea how much they would grow.  Now that I know, I will remove buds that grow too close.  

The two smaller peaches really aren't that big but they'll be yummy on vanilla ice cream as our treat for Family Home Evening tonight.

My daughter picked the first peach.

My son picked the next peach - his was the one that was up top but he got it. 

I picked the last and largest peach.  My daughter wanted to know why.  I told her it was because I bought the tree, planted the tree, watered the tree, added fertilizer around the tree, and gave it its first pruning.  It's nice to add some fruit to all the veggies around here. And my children are excited about eating fresh fruit tonight.

This peach is considered the ultimate canning peach.  The skins slip off easily when blanched. And you can store them for up to 7 years! Not that ours ever last that long - maybe 10 months.

Check out this week's harvest at Daphne's Dandelions.

Roma sauce maker

This roma strainer makes life easier.  Who am I kidding?  Growing Roma's from seed and then protecting them from pests, oh and then washing and cutting them is never the easy way.  But this does make that choice easier.  You don't have to parboil them or anything.  Just pick vine ripe tomatoes, quarter them, and smash them into this strainer.  It will send the seeds and skins out one way and the delicious parts of the tomato out the other side.  I know it looks gross but it makes for delicious spaghetti sauce and maybe next time I'll try and make pizza sauce.  

Just so you know my five year old helped me turn this while I smashed the tomatoes. He had a great time! One of these days I will decorate that big empty wall over the stairs.  In the meantime I'm busy gardening.

1st Day of school

I like to take the kids out front and grab a few photos in their new school clothes.  It was a bit windy so I they have on jackets that don't coordinate but that's the way it was so that's how I photographed them.  I'm looking forward to seeing them this afternoon.  

Of course I am busy with this - the largest harvest of cucumbers so far, about 4 lbs. 

And I need to get to work on some more of this - can you see the jar on the far right - half gone already. I can't help but scarf down this salsa.  Love it!

And the very last of the green beans.  I planted more but guess what? The grasshoppers have eaten every last leaf off the new plants.  And they have eaten the carrots to the ground.  And now they are eating my tomato plants.  I'm not sure how to fight grasshoppers this thick.  They are about every 3 inches in our grass.  gross.  Anyway, if you want to preserve green beans in the freezer, blanch them for a minute or two in boiling water.  Then toss them on a cookie sheet and stick them in the freezer.  After 3 hours or so pull them out and stick them in the freezer container of your choice.

canning Green Beans - part C

I love this little spatula for removing the air bubbles from the green beans.  Just run it around the sides and press inward.  

It also has these handy little notches on the other end so that you can measure the head room at the top of the jar.  Green beans need an inch.

Wipe the tops of the jars with a wet cloth to clean any residue off.  This helps get a secure fit. And this handy little lid lifter - because you don't want to try and chase these lids around in a pot of hot water.  This lid lifter helps keep things sanitary and it's a serious time saver.

Tighten the lids down but don't over do.  The air needs a little room to escape. Grab the finished 

Place the prepared jars in your pressure canner.

 Just like this.  My canner fits 7 quarts or 20 pints.  It's a Presto.  

 Close it up and bring it to a boil.  Let the steady stream of steam escape for 10 minutes. Then bring it up to pressure.  I live at 5,000 feet so the canner books says 13 lbs and the Ball canning book says 15 lbs.  It's better to be safe than sorry.  15 lbs it is.  When it reaches the right pressure then start your timer.  25 minutes for quarts.

More soon...

Canning Green Beans - part B

After cleaning the jars and lids I like to place them in my water bath canner to keep them hot.  I place them in a couple inches of water - you don't want them to float.  After the water boils turn it down to a simmer.  

Also place the lids in simmering water - you don't want it to boil or it'll ruin them.

Strain the water out of the green beans.  I get a pyrex liquid measuring cup full of water and boil it in the microwave and have it ready to pour over the beans after they are in the jars.

Then I use this handy jar lifter to lift the hot jars out of the water bath.  

Place the jar on a dish cloth and I love this handy little funnel.  It keeps the tops of the jars clean. I prefer to fill my jars loosely with green beans.

Then I add 1 teaspoon of preserving and  pickling salt from ball.  If you use regular table salt it can turn the water cloudy.  This salt is more pure and helps keep the water cleaner looking.

More tomorrow...

Canning Green Beans - part A

This year I had the largest first picking of green beans ever! I picked 9 lbs and it covered 1/3 of my dining room table.  My children were anxious to help snap them - it only happens after the first pick.  And I was surprised they both stuck with me until it was done.  It actually went by really fast with their help.

Here is a close up of the green beans in my water bath canning pot.  

Yes, my little garden actually produced enough green beans to fill this pot.

The next step is to wash them in several changes of water.  I'm not sure how many several is so I say 3 or 4.  Sorry no photo.  Then cut them if you want.  My sister makes dill beans and doesn't cut them up.  

 Boil them for 5 minutes.  And I'll share some more tomorrow...

Garlic Harvest

This is what I got from one row of 15 feet.  At two to three inches apart I should have harvested 60 bulbs.  I harvested 75 with only a handful of little ones.  This is my best garlic harvest in the 3 years that I've been growing garlic.  The nice thing is buying it once and then using cloves from what you grow to replant.  This makes it the most affordable plant in my garden.  No need for starting indoors, etc.  And nothing likes to eat it.  Just be careful to not over water because I've heard they can get some kind of rot and split.

catching up with the rest

Peppers - it looks like my peppers are doing pretty well this year.  They do need to be staked up and I'll get around to that soon.  I need to make a trip to the hardware store.  

And even with the hot weather they are starting to bud.  I have a few bell peppers already showing up but the jalapenos are taking their time.

 The fern leaf dill is going crazy.  My husband pulled up two of them because he thought they were dyers woad.  I can see the resemblance except that Dyers Woad is black this time of year and doesn't smell as good.  

The nice thing about planting basil next to the tomatoes is that the horn worms hate it.  The bad thing is that the slugs are terrible this year and they LOVE basil.  Besides, all the rest of my basil has met with an early demise.  I want to get at least one batch of bruschetta please. Check out that link, it's an excellent recipe and their site is great, that is if you haven't fallen in love with it yet.

And the squash is finally growing. I love summer squash.  Grilled.

And the carrots are doing well.  The middle section of the row washed away in a heavy rainstorm so they are short than the outer edges.  But they are all growing well.

Cold weather veggies - not really

I think the cold weather veggies are my favorite to photograph. And even though it's now quite hot, they are just starting to catch up.  It's just been a weird year.  Love the purple kohlrabi.  So far I've harvested 1 columbia cabbage and two kohlrabi.  I put them in the Moo Goo Gai Pan.  Yum! They are so refreshing. 

I love having the photos to compare them to other years.  It's been super handy it figuring this whole garden thing out.

Green Beans

I love green beans but this year they are off to a slow start.  I thought I'd take a few photos however because they are pretty. I have 5 rows of Jade bush beans. This year I actually had my health in June so I thinned them to the 3 inches apart.  Much better.  The stems are so much stronger.  They are super tender and meaty.  I don't like the beans that end up being almost hallow.  You have to get to the bulk seed shop early to get these because they go fast. 

I also found out when planting these that you have to be careful when putting the soil on top of the seeds.  Make sure the soil isn't wet and clumpy.  Freshly tilled soil works best.  Just toss it on top of the seeds and make sure they are covered an inch to inch and a half.  Don't step on the soil or even press down on it.  The lighter it is the better.  Successful sprouting will happen if you leave the soil loose and friable. 

You can see they are all kinds of tall and short.  I had to replant the far left row.  Oh and I don't know if you can see the drip line on the far right.  I ripped out the spinach and planted two more rows of beans there.  They are already up since taking the photo and blogging about it. You can click on the photo to see it larger.

Usually I pick them small and freeze them - then saute with minced garlic.  My daughter does not like them that way at all. And they don't always turn out great.  So we tried canning them last year.  Ahhh, much better.  We ALL liked them better that way. I'm really hoping for more than 6 quarts this year.

Day Lilies

My Day Lilies are looking pretty good this year. They were slow to bloom (long cold spring) but they look better than they have in a long time. I've planted 2 other types and they'll bloom next year.  This fall I am splitting these.  I need to place them on the hillside next to the new Ash tree.

Pumpkins

This is a Spirit Bush pumpkin.  It's a bush type of course, which means they take up less space.  And it seems to produce two perfect looking pumpkins per bush.  They were pretty small the week before.  And now they are bigger than a softball.  Of course I took these photos on the 24th of July.  I just took a lot of photos and its taking me this long to share.

You can see the 5 spirit bushes here and one little pumpkin enjoying some sun.

Here is the east pumpkin patch next to the green onions on the back upper tier.

And here is one sugar pie pumpkin.  We'll see if I get any pumpkins on the vine type this year.  Last year they started about September.  Too late.  They didn't even reach baseball size before the frost hit.

And here is a small Spirit Bush pumpkin hiding away in the leaves.  I just really liked the way the shadows fell across it.

And here is the West side pumpkin patch.  I planted these a little late and they just don't want to grow. Even with fertilizer! I tilled around them the other day.  I need to take the herbicide to that mess at the end.  I hate bind weed.  It looks like morning glory.  Only it's worse and it's roots can take up to 50 years to kill. I grew two yellow crook neck squash this year and they are just starting to grow squash.  I'm thinking kabobs would be great - someday.